Rosberg sets the pace
German tops time sheets for Mercedes in Singapore practice
NICO Rosberg clocked the fastest time of the day in the second free-practice session for the Singapore Grand Prix yesterday in a race that appears to be shaping up as a three-way battle between Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari.
The German, who will start his 200th Formula One grand prix tomorrow, lapped the 23turn Marina Bay Street Circuit in one minute and 44.152 seconds to edge out Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.
The top three finishers were separated by just 0.380 of a second on the time sheets as Rosberg’s Mercedes was unable to tap fully into its superior power on the slow, tight circuit in downtown Singapore.
Rosberg has won the past two races to close the gap on championship-leading teammate Lewis Hamilton to two points and the Briton cut a frustrated figure yesterday, finishing seventh in the second session after suffering a hydraulics issue.
Mercedes have won 13 of the 14 races so far this season but the race pace during yesterday’s long runs would suggest that a repeat of last year’s result, when Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel led home Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo, is entirely possible.
Australia’s Ricciardo was fourth fastest yesterday, ahead of Vettel and Nico Hulkenberg in a Force India.
In the first session of the day, Verstappen and Ricciardo achieved a Red Bull one-two as the 18-year-old Dutchman lapped in 1:45.823 to lead his teammate by 0.049. Vettel was next fastest, 0.464 off the pace.
Hamilton finished 0.603 behind Verstappen but fifthplaced Rosberg had his session ended prematurely when he damaged his front wing late in the 90-minute session.
The Mercedes duo set their fastest times on the more durable soft-compound tyres, however, with the top three all going quicker on ultrasofts.
The session started in the twilight as the cars went out for their first stints at the end of a sweltering day but McLaren’s Jenson Button ground to a halt towards the end of his installation lap, bringing out the virtual safety car.
“Yes, it’s stopped,” the Briton said over the team radio. “I’m not going to make it back to the pits.”
All the other cars returned to the pits as the Briton was pushed a few hundred metres to his garage by marshals and crew members.
After a mid-session lull when all the cars returned to the pits to hand back their first set of tyres, Rosberg soon had the track to himself and immediately took almost a second off Verstappen’s early time.
The Red Bulls then went out on new sets of ultrasofts to dominate the rest of the session, with Vettel also going quicker than Mercedes on his final stint.
Rosberg, meanwhile, has welcomed Liberty Media’s takeover of Formula One, with the German driver saying the series would benefit from the “breath of fresh air” its new American owners were likely to provide.
The deal struck earlier this month is valued at $8 billion (R114bn) including debt and gives the American media and telecoms business effective control of a sport run for so long by Britain’s Bernie Ecclestone.
“I think it’s good, for sure,” Rosberg said. “Bernie and his partners have run the business for all of these years and have done a great job… as we can see with the price tag.
“So someone must have done an amazing job to get that price tag on our sport … That’s pretty impressive.
“I think the world is changing a lot and it’s cool sometimes to get a breath of fresh air in the shape of a new competent group of people, who will bring along some new ideas.”
Rosberg said he also believed the new owners were well positioned to exploit fresh markets for Formula One, away from its traditional fan bases.
“I am excited about that, maybe especially as they (Liberty Media) come from America .” – Reuters